Dear President Trump and Members of Congress:

As law enforcement leaders who support commonsense immigration reforms consistent with public safety, we write to express our deep concern with the partial shutdown of the federal government.

State and local law enforcement work constructively with federal law enforcement to combat drug trafficking, gangs, organized crime, and other threats. In addition, the federal government provides needed training, equipment, and funding to state and local law enforcement agencies – support that is now threatened by the ongoing shutdown. A prolonged shutdown threatens this cooperation and strains local resources. It also negatively impacts our colleagues in federal law enforcement, forcing essential law enforcement personnel to work without pay. These circumstances threaten public safety and cannot continue.

Instead, we call on Congress and the Trump administration to reopen the federal government without delay and work together on bipartisan solutions to improve our immigration system. We believe there is room for compromise.

While there are partisan disagreements over the need for a border wall across our entire southern border, there is widespread agreement over commonsense steps that can improve border security. A bipartisan deal can build on these areas of agreement, improving border security by focusing on ports of entry, strategically deploying and using technology and ensuring that CBP has clear sight lines all along the Rio Grande. With nearly 700 miles of physical barriers already in place along the southern border, these targeted investments in border security can contribute to improving public safety and reassuring the American people that the border is a priority.

Similarly, bipartisan immigration reform will benefit the United States as a whole. We believe that immigrants should feel safe in their communities and comfortable calling upon law enforcement to report crimes, serving as witnesses, and calling for help in emergencies. By reforming our immigration system to bring undocumented immigrants into the legal immigration system, immigrants are incentivized to become constructive partners with local police in public safety initiatives. Bipartisan immigration reform can provide undocumented immigrants with an opportunity to earn citizenship, requiring them to pay a fine and back taxes and pass a background check, encouraging further civic responsibility. This would improve community policing and safety for everyone.

The current impasse is an opportunity for Congress and the Trump administration to strike a bipartisan agreement to end the shutdown and fix our immigration system. The shutdown prevents state and local law enforcement agencies from having access to needed federal resources, strains federal law enforcement personnel, and undermines cooperation between state, federal, and local law enforcement.

We urge Congress and the Trump administration to break this deadlock and improve public safety by reopening the government without delay and working to reach a bipartisan compromise that includes commonsense border security as part of a comprehensive reform of the immigration system.

Thank you,

Chief Art Acevedo, LEITF Co-Chair
Houston, TX

Chief J. Thomas Manger, LEITF Co-Chair
Montgomery County, MD

Executive Director Dwayne Crawford
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE)

Executive Director Chuck Wexler
Police Executive Research Forum (PERF)

Chief Ramon Batista
Mesa, AZ

Chief Roy Bermudez
Nogales, AZ

Sheriff Tony Estrada
Santa Cruz County, AZ

Chief Chris Magnus
Tucson, AZ

Chief Steve Stahl
Maricopa, AZ

Chief Roberto Villasenor, Retired
Tucson, AZ

Chief David Valentin
Santa Ana, CA

Sheriff Joe DiSalvo
Pitkin County, CO

Chief Dwight Henninger
Vail, CO

Chief Peter Newsham
Washington, DC

Chief Orlando Rolon
Orlando, FL

Sheriff Paul H. Fitzgerald
Story County, IA

Chief Wayne Jerman
Cedar Rapids, IA

Director of Public Safety Mark Prosser
Storm Lake, IA

Chief Mike Tupper
Marshalltown, IA

Sheriff John Idleburg
Lake County, IL

Chief Michael Diekhoff
Bloomington, IN

Chief Scott Ruszkowski
South Bend, IN

Chief Ron Teachman, Retired
South Bend, IN

Chief James Hawkins, Retired
Garden City, KS

Commissioner William Gross
Boston, MA

Chief Brian Kyes
Chelsea, MA

Sheriff Kevin Joyce
Cumberland County, ME

Sheriff Jerry Clayton
Washtenaw County, MI

Chief Ron Haddad
Dearborn, MI

Chief Todd Axtell
Saint Paul, MN

Sheriff Mike Haley, Retired
Washoe County, NV

Chief Cel Rivera
Lorain, OH

Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare
Providence, RI

Chief Fred Fletcher, Retired
Chattanooga, TN

Chief Frank Dixon
Denton, TX

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez
Harris County, TX

Chief Andy Harvey
Palestine, TX

Sheriff Sally Hernandez
Travis County, TX

Chief Mike Markle
Corpus Christi, TX

Sheriff Lupe Valdez, Retired
Dallas County, TX

Chief Mike Brown
Salt Lake City, UT

Chief Chris Burbank, Retired/FBI National Executive Institute Associates President
Salt Lake City, UT

Sheriff Dana Lawhorne
Alexandria, VA

Chief Carmen Best
Seattle, WA

Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht
King County, WA

Sheriff David J. Mahoney
Dane County, WI

*Signatures updated as of January 22, 2018 2 pm ET*

To download PDF, click here.